


Impossible

by LFMasked_Ao3



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Established Relationship, M/M, Marriage
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-05
Updated: 2020-09-07
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:34:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26294950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LFMasked_Ao3/pseuds/LFMasked_Ao3
Summary: Draco and Harry are starting to get close, when Harry tries to take their relationship to the next level, Draco panics and does something he immediately regrets. How can he fix the mess he created?
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter
Comments: 1
Kudos: 31





	1. Chapter 1 (Draco) - What Have I Done?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will be a shorter story, I got this idea and had to write it, hopefully you guys can enjoy. Comment with your thoughts!

Draco sighed and collapsed into the armchair after Harry stormed out. He wouldn’t let the tears fall. He couldn’t. He looked at the copy of the prophet that had been thrown at him before Harry left. 

**Malfoy Heir Engaged to Daphne Greengrass**

Still, Draco believed he had done the right thing. Harry and he had gotten close in the year since the war ended, too close. It broke Draco’s heart, honestly, he didn’t know what he felt for the other boy but right now… it felt like he had just ripped a piece of his soul from his chest. He sensed the light footsteps and smelled a faint perfume as Daphne strode into the study. “Draco, why was Harry here and why did he look like he wanted to murder me when he passed me in the foyer. I thought you two were friends, surely he would have been thrilled for you when you told him about the engagement.” She trailed off, she seemed to hear the faint sob Draco thought he had managed to choke back. He turned away, but he could feel her eyes boring into him. “Draco,” she began, her tone shifting to a softer one, “We both know this isn’t to be a marriage of love, but I would appreciate you telling me why you look like someone has just taken your heart out and stomped on it.” He looked at her, her brilliant blond hair pulled back into a bun, a soft expression on her face but her eyes looked into Draco’s with something closely resembling fury.

Draco withered a bit, “I-... I did what I needed to. Harry wanted something I couldn’t give him. It was best I cut it off before someone got hurt.” He steeled his expression, the cold Malfoy mask slipping over his features as he stood and extended his hand to Daphne. “Mother and Father expect us downstairs for the engagement celebration any moment now.” She brushed his hand aside.

“Absolutely not, Draco Lucius, you are not brushing this discussion aside. What. Did. You. Do.” Her voice was dangerously low, “we both agreed that this was best for everyone involved, and that we wanted to get both our families off our backs. That,” she threw an angry finger towards the door, “does not look like ‘best for everyone involved,’ now you had better tell me what the fuck you did to that boy.”

Draco felt anger wash over him, “I told you, he wanted something I could never give him, we got too close, I forgot who I was and let it go on too far. It doesn’t matter, it’s over, he read the paper and knows that it’s over.” Draco turned around and stalked to the window.

The door slammed and Daphne furiously muttered the incantation for a silencing charm. “You two were together? How long?” even without looking, Draco could picture the withering glare she was giving him.

“Too long, I should have stopped it months ago before feelings were involved. Forget about it, it’s over now, don’t worry I still have every intention of following through with the wedding.” Draco paused and his eyes widened at the noise Daphne made as she strode over to him, furious.

“You seriously think I’m upset that you had a relationship before our engagement? Are you daft? I’m beyond furious with you Draco, but only because you may have just fucked up the only chance you have at happiness. I knew you two were friends but now the expression on your face when you’ve talked about him lately makes sense, you’ve never had that look on your face talking about anyone else.” She shook her head, “When did you tell him?” Draco was at his breaking point, he couldn’t talk about this much more without breaking down. It was taking every bit of self control to keep the tears from falling at this point.

Draco took a shaky breath, “I didn’t. He saw the prophet.” Daphne gasped and looked at Draco with disbelief, her stare hardening. “You don’t understand, I don’t have a fucking choice, I have never had a fucking choice. All my life everything has been decided for me. Potter’s speech saved the three of us from Azkaban, and I was grateful. But we could never be together. I’m a Malfoy,” Draco put as much disdain as he could manage into the word, angry tears spilling down his cheeks as he spoke. “I have to produce an heir, and I can’t be seen marrying anything other than a nice, wealthy pureblooded witch. There isn’t another option. Father will never allow it.” 

Daphne shook her head. “Don’t talk like that,” her blue eyes were no longer angry, but radiated a sadness that was more than Draco could take, he crumpled to the floor. Daphne took both his hands into hers, “Draco, the way you looked when I came in here tells a completely different story. You were more than grateful, don’t lie to me. No one looks that heartbroken if the other person was just a friend. Draco, I love you more than anything, and I would do almost anything for you. But I will NOT let you use me as an excuse to avoid dealing with your problems. Our engagement is not a tool for you to use to push  _ Harry _ away,” she put emphasis on the boy’s name, not missing the fact that Draco was trying to distance himself from the thought of him. “And you’re right, you have been robbed of too many choices. I don’t blame you for what happened in the war and neither does Harry. The thing is, though, you have a fucking choice. You do NOT have to do everything your father says, you act like you respect the man. He is the sole reason for everything that happened to you in your childhood. He tried to kill Ginny Weasley when she was ELEVEN, he was there when Voldemort was resurrected in fourth year, he tried to kill Harry on numerous occasions, so why the fuck do you act like he’s a model father and why the fuck do you still want to please him?” Draco opened his mouth but she wasn’t done, and held up a hand before taking a breath and continuing, “Don’t, don’t give me another excuse. I’m tired of it. And as for Harry, I cannot fucking believe you had the audacity to let him find out the man he loved was getting engaged to another woman via the fucking Prophet, what the bloody hell is wrong with you?” Draco couldn’t hold it back anymore, and his barriers crumpled. The tears began pouring, as he silently sobbed. He was beginning to realize what he had actually done.

“Merlin, Daphne, what have I done. I don’t… I can’t…” She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him in. They sat like that for a few minutes, and Draco managed to calm down. “It’s actually… a bit worse than you think, Daph… I-” Draco looked down, another tear rolling down his cheek, “before today, the last time we spoke was a week ago. He finally told me that he loved me. I couldn’t say it back, and he said it was fine, but I panicked. I pushed him away then too, I told him I just needed space, that I needed to think. All I could think about was myself. That I could never be with him in that way, that father would never allow it. I did this for myself, to protect my feelings, how could I fucking ignore how much I was hurting him. He-... I couldn’t even fucking tell him myself…” Daphne pulled him in for another hug.

“Draco, we are not getting married. I am not letting you do this, you are not going to resent me for the rest of your life because you used me to deny yourself something as special as what you two could have had. Fuck pureblood ideals, I don’t give a fuck, you can’t tell me you aren’t in love with him, even if you couldn’t bring yourself to say it then.” She sighed and pulled back. She pulled out her wand and waved it, muttering a charm to clean the two of them up. “We do have to join your parents, though. You’re going to have to trust me, but I think telling them we can’t do this now is the best course of action,” Draco shook his head, and opened his mouth but faltered at the stern look he received. “Draco the sooner we get this over with the better. I don’t care about your father, but your mother will understand, I hope.” There was a knock at the door, and Draco furiously wiped at his eyes, as his mother opened the door and entered the study.

She took a look at Draco’s face and let out a small gasp, shutting the door behind her. “Draco, dear, you’ve been crying. What happened. And why, pray tell, did Harry Potter storm across our lawn crying.” She cupped Draco’s cheek in her hand as his eyes widened and another tear escaped his eye.

Daphne gave Draco a meaningful look, “I’ll let you have this conversation on your own, Dray, I’m going to be downstairs.” She smiled, and left the room, closing the door again.

“Mother, I-... I can’t get married to Daphne. It… I don’t love her, I cannot spend years in a loveless marriage like you did simply for the sake of family.” Draco closed his eyes, bracing for the worst, but his mother simply sighed and moved both hands to Draco’s shoulders.

“I understand, dear. I wondered if you really were doing this just for our benefit, I should have seen it. Is that what you, Daphne, and Harry have been talking about?” His mother smiled softly at him, though it faltered when her son choked out another sob and buried his head in her shoulder. He felt her arms wrap around him and hold him tight.

“Oh, Dragon, Daphne was never the one who had your heart, was she. Harry, is he-” Draco shook his head, the tears flowing again.

“Mother what did I do… He hates me now, he only found out about the engagement when it showed up in the Prophet…” Narcissa ran a hand through his hair, shaking her head slightly.

“Oh, Draco…” She pulled back and looked him in the eye. “Why didn’t you tell us. Granted, your father might have been upset but… I just want what’s best for my Little Dragon… If you think I would let Lucius force you to suffer my fate and spend your life forced to love someone when your heart belongs to another… He has caused enough harm to you, Draco, no more.” She pulled him in for another hug. 

Daphne opened the door again. “Draco, I hate to leave you alone but there’s something I really need to do. Will you be alright for a few hours?” Draco managed to smile at her, knowing that Daphne was truly one of his best friends now.

“I’ll manage, Daph. Go on, I’ll see you later tonight?” She nodded.

“I’ll be back shortly if everything goes right.” He shot her a questioning glance, and she smirked back at him. “No questions, have to dash, Dray. Love you. I’ll be at dinner.” She blew him a kiss and walked off.

Draco shook his head. He had no idea what she was planning, surely some way to cheer him up after his massive fuck up. “Now I suppose we just have to tell father…” He said, and his mother grimaced a little.

“Maybe tonight, when Daphne comes back. I don’t know what she’s doing but she did promise to stay for dinner.” His mother smiled at him, “we can fix this, dear. What you did was, quite frankly, the stupidest thing you’ve ever done,” she shot him a pointed glance, “but Harry has a big heart, I can’t imagine he could ever hate you.”

The next few hours were a little tense, Draco tried not to think about Harry much, instead opting to draw. Granted, that wasn’t much help, considering he ended up drawing Harry. He opted for the first time he saw Harry after the trials, on his doorstep looking disheveled and perhaps a little drunk. He went downstairs and stopped in his tracks. A knock has sounded on the door, and figuring it was Daphne he had waved his wand in that direction to open the door. However, instead of Daphne he saw the very image he had put down moments before, Harry’s face notably devoid of emotion.


	2. Chapter 2 (Daphne) - Damage Control

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daphne tries to convince Harry that Draco still cares about him.

**Earlier**

Daphne walked into Hogsmeade, determined to at least try and fix this. Draco was devastated, and even though he had truly taken the coward’s way out, she could tell he regretted it more than anything he had done, except maybe his actions during the war. But then, she had never seen him cry over those, even when he had nightmares, there were never tears. Anxious, sleepless nights talking about his regrets, absolutely… but he never cried. He had been taught from a young age that crying was unbecoming of a young man, that it showed weakness. Daphne rolled her eyes. The only person she hated more in this moment was Voldemort, but Lucius Malfoy was a very close second. He had ruined far too many things for Draco, and she was not about to let what could be his only chance at a happy life walk away.

She was so deep in thought she almost ran right into a rather tall redhead. “Woah! Sorry, didn’t see you there, Miss… Greengrass…” George said, eyes narrowing. Daphne’s eyes widened in shock, she hadn’t expected to run into him here.

“So sorry, George… I know you have no reason to like me or trust me, but you have to believe I didn’t know Draco and Harry were together when his parents mentioned the proposal. I noticed he seemed apprehensive but he agreed in the end, so I did as well, but I’m not going to go through with it.” Now it was George’s turn to act surprised. He held up a hand to silence her.

“Not out here, come into the shop for a moment. No one else here, I was just locking up. Setting up a branch of the shop in Hogsmeade for the students, should open right after holidays end.” Daphne let him lead her inside. The air was quickly becoming chilly, as the last days of November came to an end. “Okay, so you didn’t know about it beforehand. That makes me… not completely hate you for being a homewrecker, but you still have some explaining to do. Like what exactly you were hoping to do in Hogsmeade, if you weren’t looking for me?” Daphne smiled, glad he wasn’t turning her away, which is quite honestly more than she had dared hope for. 

“I’m not close with Harry, but I know the first place he’d run if his heart got broken would be to Ron and Hermione, and I think I recall them mentioning wanting to live in Hogsmeade once they graduated. This is the only place I could think to look for them. Actually, I’m really glad I did run into you, do you think you could take me to them and convince them not to shut the door in my face?” Daphne tried a small smile, George still seemed puzzled, trying to figure her out. She wasn’t wearing the mask she typically did in public around other purebloods, letting her emotions show on her face for once. She hoped it seemed genuine, because it honestly was. She wanted nothing more than for Draco to be happy, and that clearly didn’t involve marrying her.

George didn’t say anything for a few moments, then nodded. “Harry never explicitly said he and Malfoy were together. But Hermione came to me and asked if I noticed anything off about them. I noticed they were close but until she said something I hadn’t considered how close. It was obvious once I knew what I was looking for. The awestruck look whenever someone mentioned Draco, the longing glances on the rare occasion we saw him in public,” he paused, and walked towards the door, but paused before opening it. “One more question, it’s obvious they were happy, so when I read the Prophet this morning I thought about going up to the manor and throttling the snake myself. You too, if you happened to be there. I’m glad at least one of you has some sense, but tell me why the hell he would throw away whatever it was the two of them had…” George shook his head, looking at Daphne. She didn’t speak for a few seconds, considering her words. She didn’t want to give away details Draco didn’t want to share.

“It’s… complicated. Lucius has had a hold on Draco’s life choices for as long as he’s been alive. And his marriage is included in that. He’s adamant that Draco marry a nice, pureblood witch that he can bear an heir with. Harry is none of those things, so Draco came to the conclusion that he can’t give him what he wants. Personally, I think that Lucius could rot in Azkaban and the world would be all the better for it,” George let out a laugh at that, nodding in agreement, “Harry’s testimony saved him from that fate, unfortunately. I talked with him and convinced him that he doesn’t have to sit back and let the man tell him what to do for the rest of his life, especially if that means giving up on love.” Daphne shook her head and looked away.

George had a small smile on his face, “You remind me of my sister, you know. It’s obvious you care for the git, and Merlin knows Harry does too, even if he’s pissed right now. Likely in both senses of the word, if I know him at all. I’ll take you to Ron’s, I guarantee Harry’s with them. I’ll talk with the three of them first, and convince them you mean well and aren’t here to rub anything in.” Daphne grinned, immensely grateful. George offered his arm, and she took it without a second thought. She chuckled at the thought of her picture on the front page of the prophet, arm in arm with a Weasley. They made their way down the street away from the shops. He led her to a quaint cottage near the edge of town. It was nice, not huge but not too small either. Big enough for a small family, it struck Daphne how much she would prefer this kind of life over being stuck in a manor with more rooms than she knew what to do with. George knocked on the door, and Hermione opened it.

She gave a small smile when she saw George, but her eyes narrowed when she spotted Daphne over his shoulder. “What did you bring her here for,” she heard her whisper, before waving her wand. Daphne couldn’t hear their conversation, but it was rapid. Granger seemed furious for a moment, then her face softened and she met Daphne’s eyes again. Her eyes widened in understanding, and Daphne saw her mouth ‘she didn’t know,’ and cover her mouth. She nodded and opened the door all the way, cancelling the silencing spell. “I can’t guarantee a warm welcome, but you can come in. I’ll try to make sure Ron stays calm but… well surely you remember how he can get from school…” Daphne nodded, grateful she was even giving her a chance. She opened her mouth, but Granger held up a hand, “save it til we’re all sitting down. I don’t want you to have to repeat yourself, but I can say that as long as you didn’t know about their relationship and you are actually trying to fix things I’m willing to let you talk. Come on, Miss Greengrass, through here.” 

Daphne nodded, “Oh, and Daphne will be fine, thank you.” She found that she rather liked how to-the-point Granger was, she wished they had interacted more at Hogwarts. The slytherin girls were rather boring, all they wanted to do was gossip. She heard talking from the other room, but it stopped as soon as she walked through.

“Bloody hell, what is SHE doing here,” the younger Weasley growled, Daphne held up her hands in mock surrender, and looked him in the eye.

She gave a sad smile, “I’m not here to rub anything in I promise. Actually, I came to tell you that the wedding is off. I’m a lot of things but I’m no homewrecker,” she shot a meaningful glance towards Harry, who had clearly spent the last hour crying and drinking. His eyes widened, and he blinked at her a few times, mouth open.

“Well why the hell didn’t the ferret show up himself?” he asked, his voice dropping dangerously low.

“He wasn’t exactly in a state to come out here himself, which is why I came to see if you would go to him, Harry…” Daphne started.

Ron immediately cut her off, “He’s in a bad state? Have you bloody looked at Harry? Malfoy isn’t the one who had to find out his boyfriend up and got engaged to someone else!” he shouted.

Daphne recoiled a bit, “I didn’t know, honestly. Though if I think about it, it was always rather obvious. When Draco told me the real reason you stormed out of the Manor this morning I was furious. Not at you, but at him for being so stupid. Eighteen years and he still thinks he has to follow is father’s every word. Lucius has ruined too many things and I am not going to let you be another, Potter. We aren’t friends, and I have no right to ask you to do anything, but please, for the love of Merlin, please go see him and try to talk this out. I can’t promise he won’t be a git about it, but believe me, he regrets what he did. Not just the whole ‘not telling you’ part, all of it. Me, the engagement, letting you walk away. Tell me, have you ever seen Draco cry? Any of you?” Daphne looked around; Ron looked furious that she was even there, and kept glancing between her and Hermione, who shot him a stern glare and he sunk into the sofa, arms crossed. Hermione seemed deep in thought, and slowly shook her head.

Harry cleared his throat, blinking again. “Umm, I have, but only once. It was during sixth year, in the bathroom, before... Before he was supposed to kill Dumbledore, but other than that, never. Even when we talked about the war afterwards. I asked him once, and all he said was that his father taught him it was better to grieve silently than to cry, that seeming weak on the outside was unbecoming.” Daphne nodded, and gave him a small smile.

“He was a mess, Harry, he broke down once you left. It tortured him to do that to you, and he selfishly thought that it was what was best. That his father would never allow the two of you to be together. And that’s true, Lucius will most certainly not be okay with it, but he’s going to have to deal with it because I’m not going to sit here and allow the two of you to throw away whatever it is you’ve been building these past few months because Draco is a selfish git. You already knew that about him, and you still chose him. And honestly, Draco has been the happiest I’ve seen him since before fifth year these past two months, and I think that has everything to do with you.” Daphne didn’t break eye contact with Harry, whose eyes started watering again. He nodded slowly. And looked over to Ron, who was busy glaring at Daphne. Hermione elbowed his side, and he flinched. He looked down, defeated, and Hermione gave Daphne a smile.

“You know Draco a lot better than me or Ron do, Daphne,” Daphne smiled at her, glad that she was there to mediate, otherwise Ron surely would have bitten her head off by now. “But, I have noticed that Harry has been doing considerably better the past couple months, aside from today of course. And while I don’t exactly understand how you two worked past everything so quickly, it’s clear that you care about him, Harry. It’s up to you, but if he’s important to you I don’t think you should let him push you away with this. And Daphne, I know you said he doesn’t have to go with his father’s every word, but have you considered that he’s simply scared to go against him so blatantly for the first time?” Daphne’s eyes widened a bit, as she realized that was exactly it. He had done little things to rebel against his father. Changing his hairstyle, wearing muggle clothes when he went out, but this was a big step. 

“You’re right, Hermione. As usual, I suspect,” Hermione blushed a little at that, and she smiled.

Ron sat up, and shot her another glare, with much less venom than the previous ones had.”Look, I don’t like the ferret, but for some reason Harry cares about him, or whatever. I’m willing to move on but I swear to Godric that if the git hurts Harry again I’m going to kill him myself, and I won’t need to use magic to do it.” He sighed, and looked at Harry, giving him a sad smile. Harry’s stare had been fixed at a spot on the floor for a few minutes now. 

Hermione placed a hand on his knee and he met her gaze for a moment. He nodded, and stood up. He cast what seemed to be a freshening charm on himself, and the scent of alcohol disappeared from the room. Daphne hadn’t even noticed it before. He looked at her, and gave a watery smile, “alright, I’ll give it another shot. Thank you Ron, ‘Mione… You can stay here, I have to do this myself. Thank you for explaining, Daphne, but I need to hear it from him before I do anything.” Daphne smiled back, and nodded. 

She offered an arm to Harry, and he looked at her curiously, “You may have freshened yourself up, Potter, but I’m not letting anyone apparate drunk. Besides, they’re expecting me for dinner so I’m coming with you anyway.” Harry said goodbye to his two friends while Daphne waited outside, George walked over from the bench he had been waiting on just as Harry came back outside.

“Harry, mate! Everything alright?” He slapped Harry on the shoulder, and Harry managed a smile at George.

“I don’t know, but I’m going to find out. I don’t want to give up, but I want to know that he’s as serious about this as I am.” George nodded in agreement, and Daphne smiled at the two.

She looked over at Harry, “I wasn’t sure if I should mention, cause he never said it… not to me, at least. But I think Draco also did this for you… A part of him still thinks that he doesn’t deserve to be happy, and I think he also believes that he’ll drag you down if people see you associating with him.” Harry rolled his eyes at that. 

He shook his head, “I tried to tell him already that I don’t care what people say. I can respect that he cares about how the public sees him, but I never have and I never will. The people close to me know who I am, and that’s what matters.” Daphne smiled at him again. She could see what Draco saw in him, the man was truly incredible. Not in the ‘Saviour of the World’ way, but just by how humble someone who held so much power and influence could be. 

She offered her arm and he took it again. They waved goodbye to George, and Daphne apparated the two of them with a resounding ‘Pop!’


End file.
